Article 9 of BCEAO Instruction n°01/07/2025/RFE, in force since 1 August 2025, requires authorised intermediaries and the Post Office to satisfy themselves of the nature of the operation and of the precise identity of the ordering party before funds arriving from abroad are made available to the beneficiary. Where either is missing, they have three working days to obtain it.
A payment reaching the West African CFA franc zone from outside it is not released to the person it is for until the paying institution has established two things: what the payment is for, and precisely who sent it. That has been the rule since 1 August 2025, and where either is missing the institution has three working days to find out.
Key Takeaways
- BCEAO Instruction n°01/07/2025/RFE came into force on 1 August 2025 and abrogated its 2011 predecessor.
- Its Title III governs settlements arriving from countries that are not members of the union, which is what a transfer from Australia is.
- Article 9 is headed conditions préalables, preconditions, and requires the nature of the operation and the precise identity of the ordering party to be established before the funds are made available.
- Where either is missing, the institution has three working days to obtain it from the sending institution or from the beneficiary.
- Under the 2011 text the same information was a reporting field with a one-month cure falling on the beneficiary. That is what changed.
What has to be known before the money is handed over
Two things, and the article that requires them calls them preconditions in its own heading.
The BCEAO, the central bank of the eight West African Economic and Monetary Union member states, issued Instruction n°01/07/2025/RFE on the execution of settlements to and from abroad and with non-residents. Its Article 12 states that it abrogates all earlier provisions dealing with the same subject, naming Instruction n°01-07-2011/RFE of 13 July 2011, and that it enters into force on 1 August 2025.
Its Title III is headed with the scope that matters here: the execution of settlements coming from countries that are not members of the union.
The union is eight countries sharing one currency and one central bank: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire (often written Ivory Coast in English), Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. A transfer from Australia to any of them is a settlement from a non-member country, so the same rule applies whichever of the eight the money is going to.
Article 9 sits under that heading and is titled conditions préalables à la mise à disposition des fonds au bénéficiaire, the preconditions to making the funds available to the beneficiary. It requires authorised intermediaries, and the postal administration or Post Office alongside them, to satisfy themselves of the nature of the operation that the settlement relates to, and to ensure the precise indication of the identity of the ordering party, before funds coming from abroad are made available to the beneficiary.
The word doing the work is préalablement, beforehand. This is not a record made after the money moves.
What happens when the reason is missing
The institution has three working days, and it can ask either end.
Article 9's second paragraph deals with the gap directly. Where there is no information on the nature of the operation, or no satisfactory indication of the identity of the ordering party or of the beneficiary, the authorised intermediary or the Post Office takes the appropriate steps to obtain the missing information from the issuing institution or from the beneficiary, within a period of three working days.
Two features of that are worth an Australian sender's attention.
The first is who is asked. The obligation runs to the institution, and it may go back up the chain to the institution that sent the payment, or across to the person receiving it. A remittance whose purpose was never stated in the instruction can therefore generate a question at the far end that only the sender can answer.
The second is that the period is counted in working days rather than calendar days, which stretches across a weekend at the receiving end.
How this differs from the rule it replaced
Under the old text the same information was a form field. Under the new one it is a gate.
Instruction n°01-07-2011/RFE, at its Article 7, provided that the nature of the operation was to be specified on the currency-transfer attestation by the authorised intermediaries when it was known, and that where there was no information about it, the beneficiaries were obliged to supply what was required within a maximum of one month.
Set the two side by side.
| What changed | 2011 Instruction (abrogated) | 2025 Instruction (in force) |
|---|---|---|
| Where the purpose sits | a field on the reporting form, completed when known | a precondition to releasing the funds |
| Who has to chase it | the beneficiary | the authorised intermediary or Post Office |
| Where they may chase it | not specified | the issuing institution or the beneficiary |
| How long | one month maximum | three working days |
| What it affects | the report | whether the money is handed over |
The one-month period no longer applies to anything. It is set out here because it is the measure of what changed, not as a rule anyone can rely on.
Is a small transfer reported too
Separate from the release condition, and it applies whatever the money is for.
Article 10 requires authorised intermediaries and the Post Office to report to the body responsible for external finances and to the BCEAO every transfer received from abroad, and every payment made to a resident by the debit of a foreign account, quel qu'en soit le motif - whatever the reason for it. That phrase is the instrument's own, and it rules out an exemption based on what the payment is for. It says nothing about size, and Article 10 sets no amount either way.
The report is made on a form called the attestation of currency transfer or of the debit of a foreign account in CFA francs, whose model sits at annexe VIII-3 to Règlement n°06/2024/CM/UEMOA, adopted at Bamako on 20 December 2024. An institution may substitute a copy of the credit advice sent to the beneficiary, provided that advice carries all the required information, and the Instruction names the nature of the operation among them. So the purpose follows the payment into the record whichever document is used.
That Regulation is also why the Instruction exists in the form it does. Its Article 31 provides that implementing texts taken by the BCEAO specify the Regulation's provisions as needed, and lists the forms they take: Instructions, Décisions and Avis, which are decisions and formal opinions, along with Notes and Letters.
What else does the Instruction require of institutions
Article 11 adds two duties, and both fall on the institution rather than on anyone sending money.
Its first paragraph says the settlements the Instruction covers are executed in strict compliance with the union's rules on money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. That is what the release condition in Article 9 sits inside, and it is why the identity of the ordering party is asked about at all rather than only the purpose.
Its second paragraph then requires authorised intermediaries and the postal administrations to put in place a system for preventing and detecting any attempt to split the settlements the Instruction covers. Again, that is an obligation on the institution and not a rule addressed to a sender.
Where to look next
Sending money to Saudi Arabia covers a corridor where the stated reason for a transfer is a recorded field, and what happens when it does not match. How international transfers work sets out the ordinary sequence a payment moves through. For the live figures, see the Australian dollar to West African CFA franc page.
Sources
- BCEAO, Instruction n°01/07/2025/RFE relative à l'exécution des règlements à destination ou en provenance de l'étranger ou avec des non-résidents - Title III on settlements from non-member countries; Article 9 requiring the nature of the operation and the precise identity of the ordering party to be established before the funds are made available, and the three working days to obtain missing information from the issuing institution or the beneficiary; Article 10 on reporting every transfer received from abroad whatever the reason, and the attestation form; Article 11 on preventing and detecting attempts to split settlements; Article 12 abrogating the 2011 Instruction and setting entry into force at 1 August 2025
- Règlement n°06/2024/CM/UEMOA relatif aux relations financières extérieures des Etats membres de l'UEMOA, Bamako, 20 December 2024 - Article 31 on the BCEAO's implementing texts, Article 33 making the annexes an integral part of the Regulation, Article 35 abrogating and replacing Règlement n°09/2010/CM/UEMOA of 1 October 2010, and Article 36 on entry into force from signature
- Instruction n°01-07-2011/RFE du 13 juillet 2011, in the compiled UEMOA external financial relations regulation and instructions - Article 7, under which the nature of the operation was specified on the attestation when known, and beneficiaries had to supply missing information within a maximum of one month. This is the text the 2025 Instruction abrogated
General information about sending money to the West African CFA franc zone and about the rules that apply when it arrives. Not financial advice, and not a recommendation of any product or institution. Reviewed by the Tradergy editorial team, September 2026.
Common questions
Why would a transfer into the West African CFA franc zone be held?
Because the paying institution has not yet established what the payment is for. Article 9 of BCEAO Instruction n°01/07/2025/RFE requires authorised intermediaries and the Post Office to satisfy themselves of the nature of the operation and of the precise identity of the ordering party before funds coming from abroad are made available to the beneficiary. The heading of the article calls these conditions préalables, preconditions.
How long does the institution have to sort it out?
Three working days. Where there is no information on the nature of the operation, or no satisfactory indication of the identity of the ordering party or the beneficiary, Article 9 requires the institution to take the appropriate steps to obtain the missing information from the issuing institution or from the beneficiary, dans un délai de trois jours ouvrés.
Which countries does this cover?
All eight member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, which share the West African CFA franc issued by the BCEAO: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The Instruction applies to settlements coming from countries that are not members of the union, which is what a transfer from Australia is, and its Title III is headed with exactly that scope.
Was the reason for a transfer always required?
Not in this form. The predecessor, Instruction n°01-07-2011/RFE of 13 July 2011, treated it as a reporting field: the nature of the operation was noted on the currency-transfer form when it was known, and where it was not, beneficiaries had to supply the information within a maximum of one month. The 2025 Instruction abrogated it and turned the requirement into a condition of release with a three-working-day cure.
Is a small transfer exempt from the reporting?
No. Article 10 requires authorised intermediaries and the Post Office to report to the body responsible for external finances and to the BCEAO every transfer received from abroad and every payment made to a resident by the debit of a foreign account, quel qu'en soit le motif, whatever the reason. The Instruction attaches no threshold and no purpose-based exemption to that duty.